Threat Eases For Elderly Tenants
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday April 20, 2007
HUNDREDS of elderly people who faced eviction from their retirement homes have been thrown a lifeline, with a new management team stepping in to run the 10 properties under threat.
MFS Diversified Group, the company that owns the properties, has appointed the Sunny Cove group to take over from the troubled Village Life, which was contracted to operate the villages.In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday, the managing director of MFS Diversified, Craig White, said: "Importantly, this means the residents of the villages won't be forced to find alternative accommodation."Residents at 10 retirement villages in four states, including four in NSW, faced being left homeless after Village Life terminated its leases for the properties. The NSW Fair Trading Minister, Linda Burney, said a government taskforce would examine the management agreement to ensure the residents would not face a similar situation again."While this is a good result for the residents, I am concerned that residents now need some certainty about the future of these new arrangements," she said. "The Commissioner for Fair Trading has been directed to examine the agreement entered into between the MSF Group and Sunny Cove to make sure that the residents' interests have been protected. "At the same time the commissioner will also review the leases signed by the residents to assess their appropriateness."Ms Burney said the issue highlighted a need for consumers to be wary of contracts they sign."Business operators such as MFS and Village Life can't hide from their moral and ethical obligations towards their tenants."
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald
